Conventional mops typically have a sponge attached at one end for absorbing water and detergent and for performing routine cleaning operations. In general, liquid and dirt may be squeezed from the sponge in one of two manners. First, the mop may have rollers or a squeeze plate which compresses the sponge along its length. In the alternative, the mop may fold the sponge across its length so that two halves of the sponge compress against each other. The present invention relates to this second style, which is commonly referred to as a butterfly mop.
Unfortunately, previous butterfly mops do not satisfactorily remove more difficult stains such as scuffs or ground-in marks. The typical sponge on conventional butterfly mops is not abrasive enough to remove more difficult stains. Other mops, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,110 to Borofsky, have a mop head carrying a sponge but also incorporate brush bristles adjacent the sponge to clean difficult stains. The bristles of the brush and the sponge are disposed in the same direction so that the mop presents a single and relatively uniform cleaning surface. It will be appreciated, however, that it is difficult to use either the sponge or the brush alone. For example, the body of the sponge will interfere with the use of the brush by resisting downward force applied to the mop. In like manner, the relatively stiff brush bristles will come into contact with the surface to be cleaned once the sponge is compressed, thereby making it difficult or impossible to clean with the sponge alone. While scrubbing may be needed to remove difficult stains, it is not always preferable since scrubbing tends to scratch or mar the surface to be cleaned. When using previous devices, therefore, it is difficult to control whether the mop performs routine cleaning or scrubbing operations.
Other mops are known which support a scrubber strip with a scrubbing surface disposed normal to the cleaning surface of the sponge. As a result, the cleaning operation performed by the mop is more simply and easily controlled. For routine mopping operations, the mop is held so that the sponge is disposed toward the surface to be cleaned. In this position, the scrubber strip is supported normal to the sponge and therefore does not interfere with the mopping operation performed by the sponge. To clean more difficult stains, the mop handle may be rotated so that the scrubber strip is disposed toward the surface. In this position, the sponge is spaced from and disposed normal to the scrubber strip and therefore does not interfere with the scrubbing operation. A significant problem with these previous devices is the material used for the scrubber strip. The previous devices have heretofore used a plastic stranded material similar to glass wool. As a result, the stranded material easily scratches or mars the surface to be cleaned. Furthermore, the mop user is not likely to be familiar with the scrubber strip material and therefore does not use the scrubber strip properly, thereby increasing the chances of scratching the surface.
The replacement of scrubber surfaces on previous devices is also difficult and overly cumbersome. The brush bristles are typically attached to a holder which is secured in place on the mop head. In order to change the brush, the entire holder must also be removed and replaced. As a result, brush replacement is overly difficult and time consuming.